Carne Asada Tacos

My husband had an extremely busy week on the week of my birthday. I know that he wanted to make my birthday special, and would insist on making me dinner even though he was working 12 hours a day so I chose something that would be quick and easy and that wouldn't have too much clean up. I found this amazing Carne Asada recipe and knew it had to be my birthday dinner. I put the marinade together the night before so all my husband had to do was grill the meat on his barbecue (one of his favorite activities). We worked together to make pico de gallo and guacamole and had the dinner ready in no time at all.

Prep time: 10-20 minutes (and marinate over night)

Serves: 4 people

1 1/2 lb flank steak

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 tsp salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp paprika

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp chili powder

2 tsp oregano

5 cloves garlic, minced

1/8 cup lime juice (or juice of two limes)

1/2 cup reduced sodium soy sauce

1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 cup vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a Ziplock bag, mixing thoroughly before adding flank steak. Marinate for between 6 and 24 hours.

Over a preheated barbecue, grill until the meat reaches your desired level of doneness. Remember that the meat will keep cooking for a few minutes after you have removed it from the heat. Let the meat rest for several minutes before slicing across the grain.

Serve over corn tortillas with pico de gallo, guacamole, and hot sauce.

J Dawgs

J Dawgs is one of the most popular local restaurants in Provo. It was started a number of years ago by a BYU student and was run out of a small wooden shack just south of BYU campus. A little over a year ago it moved into a nearby building. J Dawgs are hands down the best hot dogs I have ever had. The real secret to J Dawgs is the sauce, although the other toppings are good too. I found a recipe online that claimed to be a good copycat recipe so I decided to try it out. It was actually very close to the real thing - good enough for me! Especially because I will be moving away in the next few weeks.

Polish dogs
Buns
Sauerkraut
Dill pickles
Chopped onions
Special Sauce

Special Sauce:
3/4 c. ketchup
3/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c. honey
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. onion powder

Barbecue Ribs

These were THE BEST RIBS ever made. They aren't very complicated, but they are delicious. My husband is actually the author of this recipe.

Baby back ribs
Jack Daniels Barbecue Sauce
Franks Red Hot Sauce
Brown Sugar
Garlic

Marinate the ribs overnight in Jack Daniels Barbecue Sauce. The next day, put the ribs in the oven on 200° for about six hours. Right before pulling them out of the oven, preheat the barbecue and prepare a glaze using Jack Daniels Barbecue Sauce, Franks Red Hot Sauce, Brown Sugar, and Garlic. Brush this glaze over the ribs while they are grilling.

World's Best Burgers

These are probably the best hamburgers I have ever had. We have actually made them a second time since inventing them early last month; the first time they didn't have cheese, but the second time we melted Colby Jack cheese over top when they were still on the grill. Both times they were just incredible.

2 lb. ground beef
1/2 can crushed pineapple
2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
1/2 red pepper, finely chopped
1/4 c. Yoshida's Teriyaki sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped in very small pieces
2 Tbsp cornstarch
Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and form patties. Grill meat until preferred doneness. This is great with sauteed mushrooms and onions over top.

Barbecue Steak

This week I decided to splurge a little bit to celebrate recent events with my husband. He has been wanting to learn how to cook a really good steak. I bought two New York Strip Steaks and then started researching the best way to cook them. For this dish I mostly did "behind the scenes support" and let my husband do most of the actual cooking. He did a fantastic job. These were some of the best steaks we have ever had.

New York Strip Steaks
Steak seasoning
Salt and Pepper

Preheat barbecue. Rub steak seasoning, salt, and pepper into steak on all sides. Cook the first side for 5-7 minutes depending on thickness (we cooked it for closer to 7 minutes). Flip steak and cook the second side for 4-6 minutes (we cooked it for about 5).

Barbecue Chicken

I can't believe I had never made barbecue chicken before! For some reason I thought it would be complicated and time consuming but it wasn't at all. Growing up my mom always used chicken with bones because it is a little less expensive, but it is great with or without bones. Boneless chicken takes a little less time to bake. This time I used chicken thighs and wings.

Chicken (any cut)
Barbecue sauce of your choice

Clean chicken and remove skin and fat (if it has skin and fat). Place in pan. Bake at 350º for about 15 minutes. Drain juice and then brush barbecue sauce onto chicken. I used a lot of sauce; probably about 3/4 bottle. Continue to bake for at least 20 more minutes or until fully cooked. The time will be longer if you are cooking more chicken. I ended up cooking the chicken for about an hour and a half while we were waiting for the potatoes to finish but surprisingly the chicken didn't dry out at all, it just got really tender and juicy.

Hamburgers

My husband is in charge of the barbecue in our house and this was his quest to make the perfect hamburger meat. He wanted to make the meat taste so delicious that it wouldn't even be necessary to add other toppings. And he pretty much succeeded (although I would never forgo lettuce, tomato, or sauteed mushrooms).

3 lb hamburger
1 lb bacon (cut into small pieces)
1 large onion, chopped
2 small peppers; one red and one green
4 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
salt and pepper to taste (probably about 1 tbsp each)
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1-2 Tbsp cornstarch (to help the meat stay together)

Chicken and Steak Kabobs

My husband did the grilling for this dish. He is an amazing cook and does a great job whenever he cooks or helps me. We used the Steak Marinade I have already posted for the steak and then used Yoshita's Teriyaki sauce to marinate the chicken. We cut the pieces of meat into bite sized pieces before marinating.

Wooden kabob sticks 
4 lb marinated chicken
4 lb marinated steak
5 tomatoes cut into large pieces
2 onions quartered
2 green peppers, cut into pieces
2 red peppers, cut into pieces
1 lb mushrooms, sliced

We rotated meat and vegetables on each stick and grilled them. It was a HUGE amount of food but tasted great. We also had a garden salad, corn on the cob, grilled pineapple, and fresh watermelon. It may have been a little excessive but we wanted to have a special (gluten free) meal for Chris' dad on Father's Day.